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Werner Faymann
Closure of Controversial King Abdullah Center in Vienna Decided
The Austrian National Council has decided to close the King Abdullah Centre in Vienna. The KAICIID - King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, which is largely financed by Saudi Arabia, has long been controversial. The imminent death sentence of 18-year-old Murtaja Qureiris in Saudi Arabia was the immediate cause. The majority decision of parliament must now be implemented by the Foreign Ministry under Alexander Schallenberg. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) spoke out in favour of a new centre under the auspices of the UN.
June 13, 2019
Meet Vienna's New Mayor Dr. Michael Ludwig
Michael Ludwig is a Viennese politician, member of the SPÖ, and since a battle vote in January 2018 against Andreas Schieder the designated mayor respectively state governor of Vienna and the state party chairman of the SPÖ Vienna. On 24 May 2018 he will take up his new position as successor to Michael Häupl.
May 3, 2018
Chancellor Faymann Resigns
Werner Faymann has been Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) since 2008. Today he announced that he will retire from all of his posts in the coming days. He resigned arguing that the reason is the loss of the support of his own party in the wake of last month's presidential elections.
May 9, 2016
Austria: Bank Levy Begins to Wobble
Austria´s Minister of Economics Reinhold Mitterlehner proposed to reduce the bank levy. The coalition partner, the social democrats, is surprisingly open to talks.
April 25, 2014
Erste Group to be Relocated to the Czech Republic?
CEO of Erste Group, Andreas Treichl, has informed Czech President Milos Zeman about the bank’s intention to move to Prague in the coming years.
April 9, 2014
Austria: Dispute about Bank Tax Culminates
The establishing of a new fund for the banking union will become a financial burden for banking institutes.
April 3, 2014
Austria: Faymann Insists on Bank Levy
Chancellor Faymann intends to keep the bank levy in spite of the planned insolvency fund, which is going to be established EU-wide.
April 1, 2014
Austria: Chancellor Calls for Reform of Investigation Committee
Chancellor Werner Faymann has today expressed his wish for a fast reform of parliamentary investigation committees.
April 1, 2014
Faymann Does Not Rule Out Economic Sanctions Against Russia
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann wants to avoid further conflicts with Russia and to put effort into diplomacy instead. Economic sanctions are no taboo, though.
March 24, 2014
Final Time-Out for Austrian Bank Secret
During the EU Summit the final time-out for the Austrian bank secret for foreigners was decided. Both Austria and Luxembourg agreed to give up their banking secrets.
March 21, 2014
Hypo Group: Government Explains Downsizing Solution
On Tuesday the Austrian government will explain the decided downsizing solution for the ailing bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria. Carinthia only wants to pay € 300m in downsizing costs.
March 18, 2014
Austria: IV Welcomes Government‘s Decision on Hypo
According to Kapsch, president of IV, Hypo Group’s insolvency would have meant uncertainty and damages to the reputation of the business location Austria.
March 14, 2014
Austria: Who Will Pay for Hypo Group?
In the dispute around who is to pay for problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria Chancellor Werner Faymann intends to negotiate with the Austrian provinces about a contribution to the bank levy.
March 13, 2014
Hypo Group: Insolvency Still an Option?
The group of international advisors appointed by the Austrian government seems to have come to a different conclusion than the task force of Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
March 12, 2014
Hypo Group: Losses Expected to Run into Billions
Hypo Group Alpe Adria is expected to reveal losses of around € 2bn in the balance sheet for the business year 2013. Up to now, losses in the amount of € 1.3bn were expected.
March 12, 2014
Faymann: Provinces to Participate in Hypo’s Downsizing Costs
Chancellor Werner Faymann announced that the provinces will have to make a financial contribution to the downsizing costs of Hypo Group. He is in favor of using the provincial share of the bank levy.
March 11, 2014
Austria: Opposition against “Council of Whitewashing“
The Austrian opposition, the Green Party foremost, is putting more pressure on the government to create a parliamentary investigation committee for problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
March 6, 2014
Austria: Calls for Investigation Committee Get Louder
Calls for establishing a parliamentary investigation committee for Hypo Group Alpe Adria, as demanded by the Austrian opposition, are becoming louder.
March 5, 2014
Austria: Controversies Around “Council of the Wise“
Finance Minister Spindelegger claims the appointing of the “Council fo the Wise” for problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria was the idea of Chancellor Faymann.
March 4, 2014
Hypo Group: Risk Identified Already in 2009
Three months after a report on the risk and susceptibility to fraud of Hypo Group’s leasing affiliates was published by PwC, ailing Hypo Group was nationalized.
March 3, 2014
Austria/Ukraine: Bank Accounts of Former Leading Politicians to be Frozen
Austria imposes unilateral sanctions against 18 members of the overthrown Ukrainian regime. Among the high-ranking officals are former president Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksander Yanukovych.
February 28, 2014
Austria: Bank Accounts of Ukrainians to be Frozen
At the instigation of the new Ukrainian government Austria will freeze the bank accounts of 18 Ukrainians at domestic banks until further notice.
February 28, 2014
Austria: “Council of the Wise“ for Hypo Group
Instead of a parliamentary investigation committee the coalition expressed its wish to appoint a “Council of the Wise” for the the assessment of the ailing bank’s nationalization.
February 25, 2014
Hypo Group: Nowotny Calls for Fast Proceeding
Newly designated head of Hypo Group’s task force, Governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) Ewald Nowotny, calls upon the government to fastly proceed with the downsizing of the ailing bank.
February 24, 2014
Hypo-Disaster: Government Playing Hide and Seek
After the emergency sitting in the National Assembley, which was demanded by the opposition parties and took place yesterday, the Austrian government refused to answer questions to the press and the public.
February 18, 2014
Austria: Still No Clarity in Hypo Group Disaster
The Austrian parliamentary parties continue to shift the blame onto each other. Details still have not been presented yet.
February 17, 2014
Government Downplaying Effects of Hypo Group Desaster
Today, both Chancellor Werner Faymann and Finance Minister Michael Spindelegger had to explain their actions in regard to Hypo Group Alpe Adria in parliament.
February 17, 2014
„We Were Cheated by BayernLB“
Hannes Androsch, head of the Hypo Group task force, thinks that the former Austrian government has made serious mistakes.
February 13, 2014
Hypo Group: Emergency Sitting in National Assembley Fixed
An extraordinary session in the National Assembley will take place next Monday in regard to Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
February 12, 2014
Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Harsh Criticism on Austrian Government
The Austrian opposition blames the government for concealing the biggest financial disaster in Austria´s history. Governor of the Austrian National Bank Ewald Nowotny is under fire too.
February 6, 2014
Nowotny: “We Want Clarity“
The governor of the Austrian National Bank presses the government for swift actions to find an acceptable downsizing solution for Hypo Group. Further steps will only be made in February.
January 27, 2014
Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Austrian Government Is Helpless
The nationalized lender urgently needs a sustainable future concept. In reality, however, uncertainty is dominating.
January 27, 2014
Hypo Group: Decision Within First Quarter of 2014
The long-awaited meeting between the government and Hypo Group’s taskforce has been fixed to find a solution of the Austrian problem bank. The option of a bank participation is still on top of the list.
January 23, 2014
Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Austrian Government Becomes Nervous
Although the participation of the private banking sector is unrealistic, the Austrian government does not give up. However, the time pressure grows week by week.
January 18, 2014
VBAG: Further State Aids Questionable
The governing Austrian social democrats (SPÖ) are against providing further funds to the partly nationalized banking group.
December 26, 2013
Austria: Spindelegger Replaces Fekter
The designated cabinet members were presented to the public today. Maria Fekter will not be a cabinet member anymore.
December 13, 2013
Capital Injection for Hypo Group Approved
In the general assembley of Hypo Group the path was cleared for a further capital injection in the amount of € 800m.
December 13, 2013
Austria´s Government: Old Turns into New
The leaders of the old government, Chancellor Werner Faymann and Deputy Chancellor Michael Spindelegger, announced to form a new government.
December 12, 2013
Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Liebscher Against Haircut
Klaus Liebscher, chairman of Hypo Group’s supervisory board, is strictly against a debt cut at the nationalized bank. He expects a decision about a bad bank only in the first quarter next year.
December 10, 2013
Hypo Alleged of Having Hoarded Assets of Former Serbian Regime
A Serbian NGO suspects assets of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic at Hypo Group Alpe Adria. The Austrian bank strongly rejects this allegation.
December 6, 2013
Austria: Nowotny Warns of Choking off Economic Growth
The Austrian National Bank (OeNB) has slightly decreased this year’s economic growth from 0.5 percent to 0.4 percent. However, the recession of the past two years is over, the bank claims.
December 6, 2013
Faymann: “No Outstanding Issues That Cannot Be Solved“
In an interview with Austrian daily “Kurier“ Chancellor Werner Faymann rejects the idea of early elections and underlines that there were no unsolvable issues.
December 4, 2013
Spindelegger: Reforms Remain “Watchword“
Today Deputy Chancellor Michael Spindelegger has reported to President Heinz Fischer about “difficulties” in the coalition negotiations, as announced by Spindelegger publicly.
December 4, 2013
Austria: Insolvency of Hypo Group Still an Option
Both the center of government and the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) reject Hypo Group’s bankruptcy. However, insolvency options are currently being assessed by the Finance Ministry and the Federal Law Office.
December 4, 2013
Faymann: Austrian State Finances are Stable
Chancellor Werner Faymann rejects the opposition’s claim that Austria is on its path to national bankruptcy.
December 3, 2013
Austria: Government Rules Out Hypo Group’s Insolvency
Chancellor Faymann referred to incalculable economic and political consequential effects due to the liabilities assumed by Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
December 3, 2013
Austria: President Presses for Progress in Coalition Negotiations
It has been two months after since the coalition negotiations started after the elections for the National Assembley. However, there has been not visible progress.
December 2, 2013
Faymann Calls for Sense of Proportion
Chancellor Faymann does not consider a drastic austerity package necessary.
November 25, 2013
RBI Approves Participation in Bad Bank for Hypo
CEO of RBI Sevelda expects Austrian government to set a time limit for bank levies until the end of 2016.
November 18, 2013
Hypo Bad Bank Not to be Established Before 2014
Insiders do not expect the downsizing unit for state-owned Hypo Group Alpe Adria to be established before 2014.
November 15, 2013
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